The Colorado growing season is starting to take root and I can't wait. Last summer my husband and I visited a local farm using "zero impact" agriculture methods to grow the most delicious, satisfying local produce I've ever tasted. When I eat fresh organic vegetables and fruits I need to keep a napkin handy because they burst with water and flavor. Organic vegetables and fruits make conventional fruits and vegetables taste like Styrofoam blocks in comparison to organic live foods. I didn’t think eating vegetables could taste any better until I tried the produce from Willow Grove Farms in Castle Rock, Colorado. Located just off Highway 85, Willow Grove Farms is oddly sandwiched between Castle Pines and a large new-home development in Castle Rock called The Meadows.
Willow Grove is a sustainable farm whose compact rows of vegetables and herbs takes up little space and minimal water but provides ample supply and abundant flavor. I created the most interesting, nutrient rich salads using their spring greens.
If you are interested in eating local, whether it is to reduce your carbon footprint, support local farms, or to eat fresher foods to get the most nutrient benefits possible but you do not want to maintain your own garden then I strongly encourage you to visit the Willow Grove Farms website to find out about their delivery schedule. Their season hasn't started yet but soon they will offer succulent greens followed by other vegetables and herbs. Sign up them now to find out which vegetables are in season and are available.
Just how helpful is eating local for the environment and our dependence on petroleum?"If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That’s not gallons, but barrels."
- Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver (2007) p. 5
Safe Green Living
Monday, March 31, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Earth Hour: Lights Out – Time to Get Romantic
Earth Hour is a global energy conservation movement where people voluntarily turn off their lights between 8 PM and 9 PM in their local time zone on Saturday, March 29th, 2008.
Other nations in the world have experienced blackouts but in the United States, that seems like a foreign concept. We might even panic – What will we do without lights or TV in the evening? Pulitzer Prize winning Indian novelist, Jhumpa Lahiri gives us an example in her short story "A Temporary Matter." She tells us a story of a husband and wife who were strained in their relationship when they were notified by the city that they would experience blackouts for several hours for several evenings in a row. Shukumar and Shoba (the characters in the story) are at a loss as to what they will do. Left with nothing else but to face each other, they begin to face the problems in their marriage by spending hours over a candlelit dinners and getting honest with themselves and each other again.
They found that they looked forward to these lights-out hours because they were not distracted by their modern lives. If you and your family and friends prepare, Earth Hour could be a fun, intimate and unusual way to spend an evening. It may even show us all that our modern lifestyle isn’t as critical as we think.
Looking for more?Video featuring the history of the Earth Hour movement which began in 2007.
Writer - Jhumpa Lahiri, "A Temporary Matter" in the collection of short stories called "Interpreter of Maladies" (1999)
Sign up for Earth Hour
Share Green Living Ideas
Safe Green Living
Other nations in the world have experienced blackouts but in the United States, that seems like a foreign concept. We might even panic – What will we do without lights or TV in the evening? Pulitzer Prize winning Indian novelist, Jhumpa Lahiri gives us an example in her short story "A Temporary Matter." She tells us a story of a husband and wife who were strained in their relationship when they were notified by the city that they would experience blackouts for several hours for several evenings in a row. Shukumar and Shoba (the characters in the story) are at a loss as to what they will do. Left with nothing else but to face each other, they begin to face the problems in their marriage by spending hours over a candlelit dinners and getting honest with themselves and each other again.
They found that they looked forward to these lights-out hours because they were not distracted by their modern lives. If you and your family and friends prepare, Earth Hour could be a fun, intimate and unusual way to spend an evening. It may even show us all that our modern lifestyle isn’t as critical as we think.
Looking for more?Video featuring the history of the Earth Hour movement which began in 2007.
Writer - Jhumpa Lahiri, "A Temporary Matter" in the collection of short stories called "Interpreter of Maladies" (1999)
Sign up for Earth Hour
Share Green Living Ideas
Safe Green Living
Friday, March 28, 2008
HGTV is Giving Away a "Green" House
HGTV's Dream Home giveaways always generate excitement because of how beautifully decorated and designed they are. Well, they are doing it again. This time they are going green and offering an eco-friendly house and hybrid Yukon.
The house is in Hilton Head, South Carolina so whether you would be willing to move there or use it as a vacation home, it is a fun, great place to be. The house features energy-efficient appliances and other green products.
You can enter to win HGTV’s Green Home contest here.
Tour the green home on HGTV's youtube video.
Non-toxic green product information
The house is in Hilton Head, South Carolina so whether you would be willing to move there or use it as a vacation home, it is a fun, great place to be. The house features energy-efficient appliances and other green products.
You can enter to win HGTV’s Green Home contest here.
Tour the green home on HGTV's youtube video.
Non-toxic green product information
Privacy Policy
COMMITMENT TO YOUR PRIVACY for Safe Green Living
This site/blog is owned and operated by Sophia Management, LLC. Your privacy on the Internet is of the utmost importance to us. At Sophia Management, LLC, we want to make your experience online satisfying and safe.
Because we gather certain types of information about our users, we feel you should fully
understand our policy and the terms and conditions surrounding the capture and use of that
information. This privacy statement discloses what information we gather and how we use
it.
INFORMATION Sophia Management, LLC GATHERS AND TRACKS
Sophia Management, LLC gathers two types of information about users:
· Information that users provide through optional, voluntary submissions. These are
voluntary submissions to receive our electronic newsletters, to participate in our
message boards or forums, to email a friend, and from participation in polls and
surveys:
· Information Sophia Management, LLC gathers through aggregated tracking
information derived mainly by tallying page views throughout our sites. This
information allows us to better tailor our content to readers' needs and to help our
advertisers and sponsors better understand the demographics of our audience.
Sophia Management, LLC Gathers User Information In The Following Processes:
Optional Voluntary Information
We offer the following free services, which require some type of voluntary submission of
personal information by users:
1. Electronic newsletters policy (Dispatches)
We will offer a free electronic newsletter to users. Sophia Management, LLC gathers the
email addresses of users who voluntarily subscribe. Users may remove themselves from this
mailing list by following the link provided in every newsletter that points users to the
subscription management page. Users can also subscribe to the newsletters at the time of
registration.
2. "E-mail this to a friend" policy
Our site users can choose to electronically forward a link, page, or documents to someone
else by clicking "e-mail this to a friend". The user must provide their email address, as well
as that of the recipient. This information is used only in the case of transmission errors and,
of course, to let the recipient know who sent the email. The information is not used for any
other purpose.
3. Polling
We may offer interactive polls to users so they can easily share their opinions with other
users and see what our audience thinks about important issues. Opinions or other responses
to polls are aggregated and are not identifiable to any particular user. Castle Rock Aikido
Club may use a system to "tag" users after they have voted, so they can vote only once on
a particular question. This tag is not correlated with information about individual users.
4. Surveys
Sophia Management, LLC may occasionally conduct user surveys to better target our
content to our audience. We sometimes share the aggregated demographic information in
these surveys with our sponsors, advertisers and partners. We never share any of this
information about specific individuals with any third party.
Children
Consistent with the Federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), we
will never knowingly request personally identifiable information from anyone under the age
of 13 without requesting parental consent.
Usage tracking
Sophia Management, LLC tracks user traffic patterns throughout all of our sites. However,
we do not correlate this information with data about individual users. Sophia Management, LLC does break down overall usage statistics according to a user's domain name, browser
type, and MIME type by reading this information from the browser string (information
contained in every user's browser).
Sophia Management, LLC sometimes tracks and catalogs the search terms that users enter
in our Search function, but this tracking is never associated with individual users. We use
tracking information to determine which areas of our sites users like and don't like based on
traffic to those areas. We do not track what individual users read, but rather how well each
page performs overall. This helps us continue to build a better service for you.
Cookies
We may place a text file called a "cookie" in the browser files of your computer. The cookie
itself does not contain Personal Information although it will enable us to relate your use of
this site to information that you have specifically and knowingly provided. But the only
personal information a cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. A cookie can't
read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. Sophia Management, LLC uses cookies to track user traffic patterns (as described above). Our advertising
system delivers a one-time cookie to better track ad impressions and click rates.
You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. If you've set your browser to
warn you before accepting cookies, you will receive the warning message with each cookie.
You do not need to have cookies turned on to use this site. However, you do need cookies
to participate actively in message boards, forums, polling and surveys.
USE OF INFORMATION
Sophia Management, LLC uses any information voluntarily given by our users to enhance
their experience in our network of sites, whether to provide interactive or personalized
elements on the sites or to better prepare future content based on the interests of our
users.
As stated above, we use information that users voluntarily provide in order to send out
electronic newsletters and to enable users to participate in polls, surveys, message boards,
and forums. We send out newsletters to subscribers on a regular schedule (depending on
the newsletter), and occasionally send out special editions when we think subscribers might
be particularly interested in something we are doing. Sophia Management, LLC never
shares newsletter mailing lists with any third parties, including advertisers, sponsors or
partners.
When we use tracking information to determine which areas of our sites users like and don't
like based on traffic to those areas. We do not track what individual users read, but rather
how well each page performs overall. This helps us continue to build a better service for
you. We track search terms entered in Search function as one of many measures of what
interests our users. But we don't track which terms a particular user enters.
Sophia Management, LLC creates aggregate reports on user demographics and traffic
patterns for advertisers, sponsors and partners. This allows our advertisers to advertise
more effectively, and allows our users to receive advertisements that are pertinent to their
needs. Because we don't track the usage patterns of individual users, an advertiser or
sponsor will never know that a specific user clicked their ad. We will not disclose any
information about any individual user except to comply with applicable law or valid legal
process or to protect the personal safety of our users or the public.
SHARING OF THE INFORMATION
Sophia Management, LLC uses the above-described information to tailor our content to suit
your needs and help our advertisers better understand our audience's demographics. This is
essential to keeping our service free. We will not share information about individual users
with any third party, except to comply with applicable law or valid legal process or to
protect the personal safety of our users or the public.
SECURITY
Sophia Management, LLC operates secure data networks protected by industry standard
firewall and password protection systems. Our security and privacy policies are periodically
reviewed and enhanced as necessary and only authorized individuals have access to the
information provided by our customers.
OPT-OUT POLICY
We give users options wherever necessary and practical. Such choices include:
· Opting not to register to receive our electronic newsletters.
· Opting not to participate in certain interactive areas, which completely
alleviates the need to gather any personally identifiable information from
our users
YOUR CONSENT
By using this site, you consent to the collection and use of this information by Sophia Management, LLC. If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this
page so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under
what circumstances we disclose it.
This site/blog is owned and operated by Sophia Management, LLC. Your privacy on the Internet is of the utmost importance to us. At Sophia Management, LLC, we want to make your experience online satisfying and safe.
Because we gather certain types of information about our users, we feel you should fully
understand our policy and the terms and conditions surrounding the capture and use of that
information. This privacy statement discloses what information we gather and how we use
it.
INFORMATION Sophia Management, LLC GATHERS AND TRACKS
Sophia Management, LLC gathers two types of information about users:
· Information that users provide through optional, voluntary submissions. These are
voluntary submissions to receive our electronic newsletters, to participate in our
message boards or forums, to email a friend, and from participation in polls and
surveys:
· Information Sophia Management, LLC gathers through aggregated tracking
information derived mainly by tallying page views throughout our sites. This
information allows us to better tailor our content to readers' needs and to help our
advertisers and sponsors better understand the demographics of our audience.
Sophia Management, LLC Gathers User Information In The Following Processes:
Optional Voluntary Information
We offer the following free services, which require some type of voluntary submission of
personal information by users:
1. Electronic newsletters policy (Dispatches)
We will offer a free electronic newsletter to users. Sophia Management, LLC gathers the
email addresses of users who voluntarily subscribe. Users may remove themselves from this
mailing list by following the link provided in every newsletter that points users to the
subscription management page. Users can also subscribe to the newsletters at the time of
registration.
2. "E-mail this to a friend" policy
Our site users can choose to electronically forward a link, page, or documents to someone
else by clicking "e-mail this to a friend". The user must provide their email address, as well
as that of the recipient. This information is used only in the case of transmission errors and,
of course, to let the recipient know who sent the email. The information is not used for any
other purpose.
3. Polling
We may offer interactive polls to users so they can easily share their opinions with other
users and see what our audience thinks about important issues. Opinions or other responses
to polls are aggregated and are not identifiable to any particular user. Castle Rock Aikido
Club may use a system to "tag" users after they have voted, so they can vote only once on
a particular question. This tag is not correlated with information about individual users.
4. Surveys
Sophia Management, LLC may occasionally conduct user surveys to better target our
content to our audience. We sometimes share the aggregated demographic information in
these surveys with our sponsors, advertisers and partners. We never share any of this
information about specific individuals with any third party.
Children
Consistent with the Federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), we
will never knowingly request personally identifiable information from anyone under the age
of 13 without requesting parental consent.
Usage tracking
Sophia Management, LLC tracks user traffic patterns throughout all of our sites. However,
we do not correlate this information with data about individual users. Sophia Management, LLC does break down overall usage statistics according to a user's domain name, browser
type, and MIME type by reading this information from the browser string (information
contained in every user's browser).
Sophia Management, LLC sometimes tracks and catalogs the search terms that users enter
in our Search function, but this tracking is never associated with individual users. We use
tracking information to determine which areas of our sites users like and don't like based on
traffic to those areas. We do not track what individual users read, but rather how well each
page performs overall. This helps us continue to build a better service for you.
Cookies
We may place a text file called a "cookie" in the browser files of your computer. The cookie
itself does not contain Personal Information although it will enable us to relate your use of
this site to information that you have specifically and knowingly provided. But the only
personal information a cookie can contain is information you supply yourself. A cookie can't
read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. Sophia Management, LLC uses cookies to track user traffic patterns (as described above). Our advertising
system delivers a one-time cookie to better track ad impressions and click rates.
You can refuse cookies by turning them off in your browser. If you've set your browser to
warn you before accepting cookies, you will receive the warning message with each cookie.
You do not need to have cookies turned on to use this site. However, you do need cookies
to participate actively in message boards, forums, polling and surveys.
USE OF INFORMATION
Sophia Management, LLC uses any information voluntarily given by our users to enhance
their experience in our network of sites, whether to provide interactive or personalized
elements on the sites or to better prepare future content based on the interests of our
users.
As stated above, we use information that users voluntarily provide in order to send out
electronic newsletters and to enable users to participate in polls, surveys, message boards,
and forums. We send out newsletters to subscribers on a regular schedule (depending on
the newsletter), and occasionally send out special editions when we think subscribers might
be particularly interested in something we are doing. Sophia Management, LLC never
shares newsletter mailing lists with any third parties, including advertisers, sponsors or
partners.
When we use tracking information to determine which areas of our sites users like and don't
like based on traffic to those areas. We do not track what individual users read, but rather
how well each page performs overall. This helps us continue to build a better service for
you. We track search terms entered in Search function as one of many measures of what
interests our users. But we don't track which terms a particular user enters.
Sophia Management, LLC creates aggregate reports on user demographics and traffic
patterns for advertisers, sponsors and partners. This allows our advertisers to advertise
more effectively, and allows our users to receive advertisements that are pertinent to their
needs. Because we don't track the usage patterns of individual users, an advertiser or
sponsor will never know that a specific user clicked their ad. We will not disclose any
information about any individual user except to comply with applicable law or valid legal
process or to protect the personal safety of our users or the public.
SHARING OF THE INFORMATION
Sophia Management, LLC uses the above-described information to tailor our content to suit
your needs and help our advertisers better understand our audience's demographics. This is
essential to keeping our service free. We will not share information about individual users
with any third party, except to comply with applicable law or valid legal process or to
protect the personal safety of our users or the public.
SECURITY
Sophia Management, LLC operates secure data networks protected by industry standard
firewall and password protection systems. Our security and privacy policies are periodically
reviewed and enhanced as necessary and only authorized individuals have access to the
information provided by our customers.
OPT-OUT POLICY
We give users options wherever necessary and practical. Such choices include:
· Opting not to register to receive our electronic newsletters.
· Opting not to participate in certain interactive areas, which completely
alleviates the need to gather any personally identifiable information from
our users
YOUR CONSENT
By using this site, you consent to the collection and use of this information by Sophia Management, LLC. If we decide to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes on this
page so that you are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under
what circumstances we disclose it.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Energy-efficient Dishwashers and Washers Make a Big Difference
Are you in the market for a new dishwasher, washer, or refrigerator? If so, you may be looking for the best price and durability but why not consider purchasing an appliance that conserves energy, saves water, and has low carbon dioxide emissions?
One simple step to save money on your utilities and to start your green home remodeling project is to buy an Energy-star rated appliance.
Many LEED certified builders (LEED is a green building certification) chose Bosch home appliances for their eco-friendly buildings. Bosch has a great informational video on their website that shows the environmental impact of home dishwashers, washing machines, and refrigerators. I encourage you to watch this short presentation. I was amazed at what a difference something as small as buying and using energy and water efficient dishwashers could make on the environment.
Energy-star rated appliance presentation
Looking for more?
What does "Energy star rating" mean?
Information on LEED certified home building
Non-toxic, green product information
Safe Green Living
One simple step to save money on your utilities and to start your green home remodeling project is to buy an Energy-star rated appliance.
Many LEED certified builders (LEED is a green building certification) chose Bosch home appliances for their eco-friendly buildings. Bosch has a great informational video on their website that shows the environmental impact of home dishwashers, washing machines, and refrigerators. I encourage you to watch this short presentation. I was amazed at what a difference something as small as buying and using energy and water efficient dishwashers could make on the environment.
Energy-star rated appliance presentation
Looking for more?
What does "Energy star rating" mean?
Information on LEED certified home building
Non-toxic, green product information
Safe Green Living
Home Remodel Project: Green Home Ideas
Green home construction utilizes construction designs, energy saving technologies, and sustainable building materials that can be overwhelming to a new green consumer.
Even if you are not ready to buy a house that is off the grid, or buy a green constructed home, you can still take steps to lower your carbon footprint by slowly replacing materials and appliances in your home with green home products and energy-saving appliances and technology.
You do not have to spend a fortune to help protect the environment and create a healthy, indoor environment for yourself and family.
Some ideas to get you started is to use energy-saving light bulbs and replace synthetic and chemically treated linens with organic bedding made of natural fibers, organic cotton, and natural dyes. Through the Safe Green Living blog, we will continue to explore affordable ways to go green. We will offer product reviews, articles, eco-philosophy and resources to get more information. Together we can go green with one choice at a time.
Safe Green Living - Just because it is earth-friendly doesn't mean it is safe for humans...
Even if you are not ready to buy a house that is off the grid, or buy a green constructed home, you can still take steps to lower your carbon footprint by slowly replacing materials and appliances in your home with green home products and energy-saving appliances and technology.
You do not have to spend a fortune to help protect the environment and create a healthy, indoor environment for yourself and family.
Some ideas to get you started is to use energy-saving light bulbs and replace synthetic and chemically treated linens with organic bedding made of natural fibers, organic cotton, and natural dyes. Through the Safe Green Living blog, we will continue to explore affordable ways to go green. We will offer product reviews, articles, eco-philosophy and resources to get more information. Together we can go green with one choice at a time.
Safe Green Living - Just because it is earth-friendly doesn't mean it is safe for humans...
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Author Donates Royalties, Protesting Dam Building
India has undergone many dam projects as have many other developing countries. Foreign investment, flood control, irrigation canals, and energy production are the cited reasons for dam construction but critics claim that the devastation to the human population living in the flood zones and the ecological damage, as well as statistics stating historical dam projects provide significantly less energy output as expected, encourage extreme resistance to dam construction.
In India, massive protests in the form of hunger strikes, and donations of book royalties from famous Indian writer Arundhati Roy* keep this debate in the news. Book Review: "Power Politics", 2001, author Arundhati Roy, Indian female writer This book is a series of essays exploring water dam building and energy production in India, political response to September 11, 2001 in expectation of a U.S. war with Afghanistan, and free speech.
One essay from the book is called "The Reincarnation of Rumpelstiltskin." Roy provides statistics and arguments against the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Indian citizens who lived and farmed on lands where the Indian government wanted to flood in the construction of dams. Resistance against dams, the overall ecological damage being the primary grounds of argument, is a common one in the United States; however, in most cases, a dam displaces few people.
Roy opens our eyes to the plight of thousands and thousands of people living in India, most of them already poor and with little political influence who are forced to leave their homes and try to find a new way to support themselves. I am not in a position to assure you of the accuracy of her statistics and statistics can always be manipulated, but her image of the conditions of the displaced is well worth being aware of. The Sardar Sarovar dam in India was fiercely debated.
One website described one of the resettlement villages for the people who were displaced by this dam. "The sites, severely lacking basic infrastructure such as sewage and irrigation facilities, can themselves hardly be called villages. Yet since the mid-1990s, these sites have been home to 80 families who once lived in the now-submerged village of Makhekheda. Nearly 12,000 other families live in sites that pass as villages off similar unnavigable roads across Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. These families, who had their land and livelihoods submerged as a result of the 360-foot high Sardar Sarovar dam, dot the unseen landscape of the Sardar Sarovar project."**
Statistics of the people affected vacillate wildly between 50,000 to 1 million*** however, to the families involved, the gravity of their situation is barely affected by a massive number of neighbors. For these families, they are forced to promptly create a new way of earning a living and rewrite traditions that may be generations old. The hunger strikes and protests against these dam projects may reside more with people rehabilitation and perhaps less on the ecological damage or even the economic necessity. Critics also claim that many of the dam projects end up providing only a fraction of the amount of energy intended.****
Arundhati Roy I sought out her work because an essay I was reading said that Roy believes that individuals should take responsibility for themselves and stop claiming to be a victim. Few people feel this way today as many of us are tempted to blame the government, parents, spouses, or society for our own shortcomings. "Power Politics" is her only book I’ve read so far. Further research into her work leaves me impressed at her forthrightness, clarity of purpose, and commitment to others.
She has been widely criticized for her actions and has also been taken to court. In response to criticism, she said: "I am hysterical. I'm screaming from the bloody rooftops. And he and his smug little club are going 'Shhhh... you'll wake the neighbours!' I want to wake the neighbours, that's my whole point. I want everybody to open their eyes".*****
Looking for more?
The International Day of Action Against Dams For Rivers, Water, and Life Narmada River project – problems and solutions – evaluates Indian dam project calling for 3,000 dams on the Narmada River.
Cited sources *Arundhati Roy donates book royalties **”Dam-Affected Resettlement in India: A Photo Essay” by Chhandasi Pandya, April 29, 2006 ***”Dam-Affected Resettlement in India: A Photo Essay” by Chhandasi Pandya, April 29, 2006 http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=10177 ****Dams do not provide expected energy output *****Arundhati Roy quote : SCIMITARS IN THE SUN, Frontline, Volume 18 - Issue 01, Jan. 06 - 19, 2001
In India, massive protests in the form of hunger strikes, and donations of book royalties from famous Indian writer Arundhati Roy* keep this debate in the news. Book Review: "Power Politics", 2001, author Arundhati Roy, Indian female writer This book is a series of essays exploring water dam building and energy production in India, political response to September 11, 2001 in expectation of a U.S. war with Afghanistan, and free speech.
One essay from the book is called "The Reincarnation of Rumpelstiltskin." Roy provides statistics and arguments against the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Indian citizens who lived and farmed on lands where the Indian government wanted to flood in the construction of dams. Resistance against dams, the overall ecological damage being the primary grounds of argument, is a common one in the United States; however, in most cases, a dam displaces few people.
Roy opens our eyes to the plight of thousands and thousands of people living in India, most of them already poor and with little political influence who are forced to leave their homes and try to find a new way to support themselves. I am not in a position to assure you of the accuracy of her statistics and statistics can always be manipulated, but her image of the conditions of the displaced is well worth being aware of. The Sardar Sarovar dam in India was fiercely debated.
One website described one of the resettlement villages for the people who were displaced by this dam. "The sites, severely lacking basic infrastructure such as sewage and irrigation facilities, can themselves hardly be called villages. Yet since the mid-1990s, these sites have been home to 80 families who once lived in the now-submerged village of Makhekheda. Nearly 12,000 other families live in sites that pass as villages off similar unnavigable roads across Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. These families, who had their land and livelihoods submerged as a result of the 360-foot high Sardar Sarovar dam, dot the unseen landscape of the Sardar Sarovar project."**
Statistics of the people affected vacillate wildly between 50,000 to 1 million*** however, to the families involved, the gravity of their situation is barely affected by a massive number of neighbors. For these families, they are forced to promptly create a new way of earning a living and rewrite traditions that may be generations old. The hunger strikes and protests against these dam projects may reside more with people rehabilitation and perhaps less on the ecological damage or even the economic necessity. Critics also claim that many of the dam projects end up providing only a fraction of the amount of energy intended.****
Arundhati Roy I sought out her work because an essay I was reading said that Roy believes that individuals should take responsibility for themselves and stop claiming to be a victim. Few people feel this way today as many of us are tempted to blame the government, parents, spouses, or society for our own shortcomings. "Power Politics" is her only book I’ve read so far. Further research into her work leaves me impressed at her forthrightness, clarity of purpose, and commitment to others.
She has been widely criticized for her actions and has also been taken to court. In response to criticism, she said: "I am hysterical. I'm screaming from the bloody rooftops. And he and his smug little club are going 'Shhhh... you'll wake the neighbours!' I want to wake the neighbours, that's my whole point. I want everybody to open their eyes".*****
Looking for more?
The International Day of Action Against Dams For Rivers, Water, and Life Narmada River project – problems and solutions – evaluates Indian dam project calling for 3,000 dams on the Narmada River.
Cited sources *Arundhati Roy donates book royalties **”Dam-Affected Resettlement in India: A Photo Essay” by Chhandasi Pandya, April 29, 2006 ***”Dam-Affected Resettlement in India: A Photo Essay” by Chhandasi Pandya, April 29, 2006 http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=10177 ****Dams do not provide expected energy output *****Arundhati Roy quote : SCIMITARS IN THE SUN, Frontline, Volume 18 - Issue 01, Jan. 06 - 19, 2001
Earth-friendly Products Hazardous to Your Health?
The Green Movement is gaining momentum and that is worth celebrating but before we rush headlong into trendy, eco-sensitive products, we need to ask ourselves if these products are safe for humans.
For decades scientists and ecologists have warned us about using plastic because post-consumer plastic takes up considerable space in our landfills and takes too long to degrade (if it is biodegradable at all).
To answer this growing ecological threat, plastic recycling technology is growing more consumer-friendly and more affordable but do recycled plastic products pose a risk for human health?
EcologyCenter.org lists the adverse health effects of plastic. People are now warning us to never heat up food cooked in plastics because the heat allows the chemicals in plastic to transfer to our food. The little plastic microwavable trays may be convenient to use but in the long run they can contribute to serious health problems and disease. Plastic toxicity can disrupt our body’s hormone balance which can lead to “cancers, birth defects, immune system suppression, and developmental problems in children.”*
Using post-consumer plastic products in our home or even wearing clothing made out of recycled plastic bottles increase your exposure to the toxic chemicals found in plastics. Outdoor adventure companies are known for the earth-friendly, eco-conscious philosophy so maybe that is why they introduced plastic fiber lines of clothing made of recycled plastic bottles but before you buy clothes made out of recycled plastic, I strongly encourage you to research plastic’s effect on our health.
Looking for more?Chart – Lists specific chemicals in plastic and their known ill-effects on the human body.
Safe Green Living - Earth-friendly, family safe
*http://www.ecologycenter.org/factsheets/plastichealtheffects.html March 25, 2008
For decades scientists and ecologists have warned us about using plastic because post-consumer plastic takes up considerable space in our landfills and takes too long to degrade (if it is biodegradable at all).
To answer this growing ecological threat, plastic recycling technology is growing more consumer-friendly and more affordable but do recycled plastic products pose a risk for human health?
EcologyCenter.org lists the adverse health effects of plastic. People are now warning us to never heat up food cooked in plastics because the heat allows the chemicals in plastic to transfer to our food. The little plastic microwavable trays may be convenient to use but in the long run they can contribute to serious health problems and disease. Plastic toxicity can disrupt our body’s hormone balance which can lead to “cancers, birth defects, immune system suppression, and developmental problems in children.”*
Using post-consumer plastic products in our home or even wearing clothing made out of recycled plastic bottles increase your exposure to the toxic chemicals found in plastics. Outdoor adventure companies are known for the earth-friendly, eco-conscious philosophy so maybe that is why they introduced plastic fiber lines of clothing made of recycled plastic bottles but before you buy clothes made out of recycled plastic, I strongly encourage you to research plastic’s effect on our health.
Looking for more?Chart – Lists specific chemicals in plastic and their known ill-effects on the human body.
Safe Green Living - Earth-friendly, family safe
*http://www.ecologycenter.org/factsheets/plastichealtheffects.html March 25, 2008
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